NASA monitors the star daily to determine the exact moment of the explosion, expected between the next few days and September.
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Tech
NASA
13 mins ago
BY Minuto News
Every 80 years, a unique celestial spectacle reveals itself in the Northern Hemisphere: the explosion of the star T Coronae Borealis (T CrB). In 2024, we will have the opportunity to witness this fascinating event, where T CrB will shine brighter than the North Star, creating the illusion of a new star in the sky.
This explosion, which will only last a week, allows us to observe a star 3,000 light years away. AT CrB will illuminate the constellation Corona Borealis for about seven days, and NASA monitors the star daily to determine the exact moment of the explosion, predicted between the next few days and September.
AT CrB is a binary system composed of a white dwarf and a red giant. The red giant, near the end of its life, has expanded to 74 times the size of the Sun, while the white dwarf orbits the red giant, raising the giant’s surface temperature to 2,200 to 3,200 degrees Celsius. This temperature causes T CrB to expel its outer layers in colossal explosions, releasing energy 100,000 times greater than the Sun’s annual production and visible from Earth for a week.
After the explosion, T CrB cools down and restarts a new 80-year cycle. This event promises to attract the attention of astronomy enthusiasts and the general public, as it will be possible to observe T CrB with the naked eye for a week, and with a telescope for another week. The last explosion of T CrB occurred in 1946, with records of observations in 1866, 1787 and until 1217.
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